Between Fall 2008 and Spring 2009, Witte de With organized three symposia under the title Rotterdam Dialogues, subtitled in turn The Critics, The Curators, The Artists. Each event focused on one agent in the art world, looking at their expectations, positions and the contexts in which they operate. The speakers included the most sought-after names in their field, emerging talents, as well as representatives of alternative production from around the world. The sense of critical mass was palpable throughout and mounted with each symposium, yet each gathering had its own tone and its own set of concerns. The mood was dissonant, constructive and, it must be said, entertaining.

This book is a site where the voices of these three distinct cultural agents come together. If it cannot quite capture the lively excitement of 35 international critics, 48 curators and 57 artists, not to mention the 500+ visitors who attended the symposia, it can highlight the individual spirit of many of the discussions. Contained within are selected transcripts from each symposium, the outcomes of the associated workshops, and a freewheeling section of responses to the question “What are you talking about now?” asked to all the guests in the months that followed the symposia. Their diverse reactions give a sense of the range of characters, ideas and practices that the symposia brought together. We hope that with this publication, the Rotterdam Dialogues will travel and continue to incite further conversation.

Launch
On Wednesday 7th July, the book will be launched at Witte de With. The evening will feature an introduction by Zoë Gray, Nicolaus Schafhausen and Monika Szewczyk, followed by the screening of two films.

After The Curators symposium, Annaïk Pitteloud and Steve Van Den Bosch created an eponymous installation comprising a looped slideshow and parallel video projection, which explores the simultaneous fragmentation and entanglement of the art world, as they witnessed it on this particular occasion.

This will be followed by the premiere of Show + Tell, a documentary film begun during The Artists symposium and produced by seven artists studying at the Piet Zwart Institute/Willem de Kooning Academie, Rotterdam: Ghislain Amar, Derek Brunen, Bat Sheva Ross, Marnie Slater, Jay Tan, Selina Taylor and Sjoerd van Leeuwen, in collaboration with Hila Peleg and Angela Melitopoulos.